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At a sign from the judge all sat down or knelt on the pavement, while the scribe said to the pharaoh, "Our lord and mighty ruler! Thy servant Nitager, the great guard on the eastern boundary, has come to render thee homage, and has brought tribute from conquered nations: a vase of green stone filled with gold, three hundred oxen, a hundred horses, and the fragrant wood teshep."
In this hall, with its varied mosaic pavement, stood in silence, white robed and barefoot, the priests, the highest dignitaries of State, Herhor, the minister of war, also the leaders Nitager and Patrokles, who had been summoned to the presence of the pharaoh. His holiness Ramses XII, as usual before he held council, was placing offerings before the gods in his chapel. This continued rather long.
At the same time he ordered Nitager to leave the eastern boundary to his assistant, and come himself with five chosen regiments to Memphis. This he did not so much to protect aristocrats from common people as to have at hand strong forces in case the high priests incited to rebellion Upper Egypt and the troops attached to temples. On Paofi 10 there was a great movement in the palace and about it.
And know this, Sarah, that if Thou wouldst admit me to confidence I would give thee two talents, and thy father one talent, and, besides, I should be ashamed of giving thee so little, for Thou deservest that the pharaoh himself should fondle thee, and the heir of the throne, and the worthy minister Herhor, and the most valiant Nitager, and the richest bankers of the Phoenicians.
At this time General Nitager, commander of the army which guards the gates of Egypt from attacks of Asiatic people, will move from the Bitter Lakes against the heir, Prince Ramses. "Both armies, the Asiatic and the Western, are to meet near Pi-Bailos, but in the wilderness, so that industrious husbandmen in the land of Goshen be not hindered in their labors.
On a certain evening the prince, while walking through the gardens of the temple, met a crowd of captives whom Nitager had seized on the eastern boundary and sent to the goddess Hator. Those people were perfectly built, they did more work than Egyptians, and they did it because they were properly nourished, hence even satisfied with their position.
"Who among us has not made them?" put in Patrokles, silent thus far. "The heir," continued the minister, "led the main corps wisely, but he neglected his staff; through this neglect we marched so slowly and in such disorder that Nitager was able to cut off the road before us." "Perhaps Ramses counted on your dignity," said Nitager.
And since it is my will that leaders, officers, and soldiers should share my happiness at all times, I assign one drachma to each soldier of those who have gone to the east, and to those who return with us from the eastern boundary; also one drachma each to the Greek soldiers who today, under my command, opened a passage out of the ravine; and one drachma to each man in the regiments of the worthy Nitager who wished to cut off the way to us."
Only the heir to the throne could be his mouth when he turns to me; not thou, chief scribe." The scribe looked with consternation at the daring leader, but the pharaoh answered, "My faithful Nitager speaks truth." The minister of war bowed.
"So he is always dreaming of that?" thought the high priest. The pharaoh, as if to confirm Herhor's fears, changed the subject. "How many troops have we?" asked he. "Here in Memphis?" "No, in all Egypt." "Thou hadst ten regiments, holiness," answered Herhor. "The worthy Nitager on the eastern boundary has fifteen.
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